smoke. i'm except from empowering. a stupid word. empowers is a waste of time. >> bob: what sales socialist, communist, male, mao -- >> dana: go on. that is it for us on "the five." thank you for watching. we'll see you tomorrow. >> bret: congress calls members of the obama administration on to the capitol hill carpet in the emerging scandal over the libya terror attack. this is "special report." good evening. i'm bret baier. 27 days from a rapidly evolving presidential election. governor romney is now ahead of president obama in just released fox news polls this hour. 46 to 45%. he also has a one percentage point lead, one-point lead advantage over the president in favorability opinion.

52 to 51. shift of four points. top story tonight is the growing fall-out from last month's terror attack in libya. the obama administration conflicting statements about it. that tells you how serious this has become. fox team coverage. ed henry looks at the latest episode of obama administration damage control. but we begin with chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge on what went down today just behind me on capitol hill. good evening. >> thank you, bret. lawmakers question today whether the president political agenda throw security decisions on the ground in libya and assertions by the administration. >> there was no protest. the state department, f.b.i. a others have that video. >> the top state department official who testified before house government oversight committee confirmed he told lawmakers a day after this attack on the benghazi consulate that he believed it

was terrorism. >> i believe it was the nature of it. leathtlethality of it, it was complex attack. >> ambassador kennedy defended ambassador susan rice who fiv ae rounds on sunday talk shows as it was a demonstration, prompted by a youtube video for anti-islam film that spun out of control. >> if any of the administration officials including any career official, were on television on sunday, september 16, they would have said what ambassador rice said. >> challenged repeatedly by a republican who returned from the region. i was in libya and nobody mentioned a video. >> in the year leading up to the attack, ied attack on the consulate in june, lawmakers were told that triply could not control the american interest. >> we could not rely on them for security, intelligence and

law enforcement help to identify the emerging threat. or ask them for assistance mitigating the threat. >> newly released e-mails and testimony, one team dominated. official washington was preoccupied with reducing the number of american security personnel at the consulate and replacing them with libyan guard. even after series of attacks on diplomats. lieutenant colonel andrew wood recently oversaw military security for the consulate. >> we were the last flag flying in benghazi. we were the last thing on their target list. >> leading democrat suggested congress needed to look at its own action. >> the fact is that since 2011, the house has cut embassy security by hundreds of millions of dollars. below amount requested by the president. >> ambassador kennedy, said he would take more questions from reporters in the state department briefing room. what is clear tonight there was unhappiness at stake over kennedy's statements. >> bret: thank you. minimizing the political damage from the libya scandal is becoming more and more important to administration

suddenly fighting tooth and nail for the very survival. ed henry was front and center for that today. >> after president obama state department revealed last night, officials there never believed the attack on september 11 was protest gone awry, today white house spokesman carney was pressed on why he and susan rice except incysting it was a protest and not terrorism. >> did she, did you and others mislead the public because you didn't want to admit there was a terror attack. >> absolutely not. the president of the united states referred to it as act of terror after it occurred. >> the day after the attack. no acts of terror will shake the resolve of the nation. >> carney tried to use the quick mention by the president on september 1112 to suggest the administration is consistent to call it terror. >> we kept saying we don't know. >> the issue was what led to

the test. that has been an issue we provided assessments of, based on the information we have gleaned through the intelligence community. preliminary information. >> two days after the president's mention of terror, carney did not say terror. >> it was in response to a video. a film. that we have judged to be reprehensible and disgusting. >> two more days later, fox's chris wallace asked ambassador rice if she believed what carney said. >> chris, absolutely, i believe that. what sparked recent violence was the airing on the internet of a very hateful, offensive video. >> republican senator bob corker just back from an official trip to libya charged today rice was in his words thrown under the bus. >> what the white house has done to save their own political skin and image on this issue is they have dishonored many people around this world. >> carney sharply denied that.

>> this is a moving picture. people who on the night of an attack or the day after, claim they know all the facts, without making clear that what we know is based on preliminary information. aren't being straight. they're in some cases trying to politicize the situation that should not be politicized. >> now the latest fox news poll shows the president taking a hit on the question who do you trust more in handling foreign poll i? he dipped five points in recent weeks. in the handling of libya, only 37% now approve. vi% disapprove. bret? >> ed henry live on the north lawn. ed, thank you. later we'll have a full timeline of what administration officials and the president were saying from the beginning. romney is trying to ride the wave and stay on his board. republican channeler as we showed you earlier is on a post debate roll. fox news poll reflect that momentum. chief political correspondent

carl cameron is covering the romney campaign. >> with new momentum and lead in the national and battleground state polls, romney courted moderate swing voters with the new jersey popular governor chris christie at town hall style meeting at manufacturing plant. >> we need to get the government the hell out of the way and let you succeed. >> i'm glad he blurted it out. it was very helpful. >> the likely voters show romney ahead 46 to 45% within the margin of error. romney trailed by five points before last week's debate. he surgeed among white voters and men. on the economy, romney back on top by eight points. he peppered a penal to repeal obamacare with a shot at the president for trying to scare voters. >> we had healthcare in america before obamacare came along. the idea we don't have healthcare if we don't have obama care is wrong and fear mongering. >> romney pro-life since 2005 said yesterday. >> there is no legislation

regarding abortion i'm familiar with. that would become part of my agenda. >> obama camp jumped over the governor saying women can't trust him. in delaware, ohio, romney clarified. >> i'm a pro-life candidate andly be a pro-life president. the actions i'll take immediately are to remove funding for planned parenthood. with not be part of my budget. and also, i've indicated to reverse the mexico city position of the president. reinstate the mexico policy. >> which been as u.s. aid for abortion overseas which president obama revinded. in days, romney is trying to soften his image. including knowing a navy seal in the terror attack in benghazi. mother told the boston tv station he shouldn't make my son's death part of his political agenda. the romney cam pape said it would be dropped from the stump speech. but romney relates a story about the national guard sniper killed in afghanistan whose widow told abc news,

when i would ask him, what do you need over there, what could i send you? he said i need a new president. romney was asked if he supports detention of americans suspected of terrorism and suggested he's opposed to weakening u.s. resolve. >> i don't believe this is a time to pull back from the vigilance to protect america and keep us safe from threats we face around the world. >> in fact, romney's remark about abortion, the president today suggested that the former massachusetts governor is trying to conceal or hide his position. the president acknowledged while his debate was a poor one and romney was a good one, he is arguing that the fundamentals of the race are still the same. the race as romney sees them now are more favorable. more each day. >> bret: carl cameron traveling with governor romne romney. more of that interview, president obama with abc news later with the panel. join megyn kelly and me thursday night for the vice presidential debate. live from danville, kentucky. our coverage begins

8:55:00 p.m. eastern time. partial victory today for south carolina's voter i.d. law. federal court upheld the statute but ruled it cannot be used until 2013. the judges said there is not enough time to implement it before next month's election. tonight's text to vote question. how will the libya scandal affect your vote? text sr1 to 36288 for great deal. text sr2 for somewhat. sr3 for not at all. results a little later. next up, a new spin on old argument. [ male announcer ] inside the v8 taste lab.

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one of the most divisive issues of the 20th century getting a 2 isst century revisit from the u.s. supreme court. correspondent shannon bream

looks at the new case an old policy. >> what do we want? diversity. >> reporter: today the supreme court was asked with deciding how far colleges and universities can go if at all when it comes to factoring race in the admissions decision. abigail fisher sued when she didn't get in the university of texas at austin claiming the lesser qualified minorities given preference over here because she is white. >> i hope the court ruled that a student's race and ethnicity should not be considered when applying to the university of texas. >> the case was marked by relentless verbal sparring. sonia sotomayor pushed her to explain how the university of texas policy that admits the students graduating in the top 10% of their grass and looks to other factors for the remaining spot is unacceptable. as i understand their position, race is balanced against other issues like socioeconomics the strength of the classes people took. never a stand-alone. >> we have made a great deal of process on our campus and throughout the united states.

there is a need to make sure the campuses and military and businesses are diverse. >> under current supreme court precedent colleges and universities can consider race. but only as up with of a host of factors and there must be a "logical end point use of race." something that the university struggled to identify today despite numerous questions like this one, by chief justice john roberts. what is the logical end point? when will i know you reached critical mass? the court could rule narrowly on the policy in this case or take bolder step to overturn the earlier ruling on affirmative action. either way, likely to boil down to one man who had plenty of tough questions for both sides today. justice anthony kennedy. bret? >> shannon, thank you. >> bret: more losses on wall street today. dow fell 129. s&p dropped nine. nasdaq gave back 13. still ahead -- updating the timeline on the

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>> bret: the u.s. involve in the the syrian conflict could be escalating. pentagon has troops near the syrian border with jordan to help bolster that country's military readiness. there is a late development that could have major ramifications. correspondent leland vittert has specifics from jerusalem. hello. >> just in the past few hours, bret, the turkish military intercepted a syrian airliner flying from russia. turkish foreign minister says they have intelligence that the plane is carrying non-civilian cargo. comes and we're learning the

u.s. now has military boots on the ground near the syrian border. >> with increasing fears over the security of syrian chemical weapons, stock piles, approximately 150 u.s. special operations troops flown to jordan to build headquarters and begin contingency planning to keep weapons of mass destruction from being used against civilian polllations or falling in the hands of militants. the u.s. defense secretary would not rule in or out direct military action. >> we make the relationship between the united states and jordan a strong one. so that we can deal with all of the possible consequences of what is happening in syria. >> that could include syrian artillery shells in jordan as they have in southern turkey. after a week of back and forth artillery barrages, turkish general raised the stakes at

impromptu news conference visiting his troops on the border. saying that if syria continues to shell his country, they would respond with greater force. the warning comes as syrian helicopter gunships fly within sight of the turkish forces to attack rebel positions in border villages. the headline of u.s. troops now on the ground in jordan and turkish rhetoric increasing is tightping tensions but we're taking diplomatic equivalent of baby steps toward what is still a distant possibility of military intervention against the syrian regime. back to you. >> bret: leland vittert live in the middle east newsroom. thank you. don't forget tonight's text to vote question. how will the libya scandal affect your vote? text sr1 to 36288 for great deal. sr2 for somewhat. sr3 for not at all. results a little later. grapevine is next. this is awesome!

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[ male announcer ] it started long ago. the joy of giving something everything you've got. it takes passion. and it's not letting up anytime soon. at unitedhealthcare insurance company, we understand that commitment. and always have. so does aarp, an organization serving the needs of americans 50 and over for generations. so it's no surprise millions have chosen

an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they help cover some of the expenses medicare doesn't pay. and save you up to thousands in out-of-pocket costs. to find out more, request your free decision guide. call or go online today. after all, when you're going the distance, it's nice to have the experience and commitment to go along with you. keep dreaming. keep doing. go long. >> bret: now fresh pickings from the political grapevine. not even saw last week's presidential debate as a slam dunk for mitt romney. the daily mail reports president obama left feeling like he was the winner. the mail quotes anonymous democrat close to the obama campaign saying the president did not prepare seriously and ignored scripted one-liners intended to wound romney.

"president obama made it clear he wanted to be doing anything else, anything but debate prep." speaking of the debate, you may have come across a story suggesting that governor romney used a cheat sheet. this screen grab from the debate apparently shows, appears to show a neatly folded hanker which i have, wh . which is what it was. he used it later in the debate. others ran the cheat sheet questioning story. conservative columnist thinks he knows why. nowhere can you find campaign fingerprint on that story. they have long since quit taking my calls but i know how it works. stories like that, do not move on their own under the protection of anonymity. it was most assuredly obama cam pape operatives calling up reporters and pushing them to follow that bogus story. obama campaign told fox news no, we have never casted our lot with the tinfoil hat

crowd. former vice president al gore preaches benefit of investing in alternative tech no a his company seems to send a different message. national review online looked at the company s.e . cbs filing and noted public invest in the wind, solar, biomass and other a tern tiff energy are pract -- alternative energy are practically non-existent. program to combat trueiensy that some feel already went too far has gone further. media report say a texas school district requiring students to wear an i.d. card with a radio frequency chip that tracks their locations. students in san antonio who have opted to use the old i.d.s are being told they cannot vote for homecoming king and queen. the school grounds access is restricted. the program could stave district as much as $175,000 lost daily because of low attendance. which partially determines the

school funding. now back to the libya story. deadly terror attack on u.s. mission in benghazi. timing. what the administration knew and said. when it knew and said it. is at the crux of the entire story. take another look at the timeline we first brought you two weeks ago now updated. ugh 2012, unclassified report called al-qaeda in libya, profile, by the defense department combating terrorism office and library of congress states under the direction of the al-qaeda senior leadership, affiliates in libbia, al-qaeda in islamic magrab and al-sharia are gaining strength, likely joining forces and are in the expansion phase. september 5 and 6. at the convention in charlotte, democrats touted crippling of al-qaeda. >> ask usama bin laden if he is better off now than he was four years ago.

>> al-qaeda is on the path to defeat. and bin laden is dead. >> four nights later september 10, a video surfaces of al-qaeda emir, the spiritual leader. ayman al-zawahiri calling for jihadists to avenge the death of the libyan terrorist. who was killed in a drone strike in june. on the 11 anniversary of the 9/11 attack, protests erupt. u.s. embassy in cairo puts out a statement condemning the video. 8:30 p.m. local time in benghazi, 2:30 p.m. eastern. u.s.m bass dore chrissteins says good night to a visiting turkish diplomat, escorting him to the front gate of the compound. officials say "everything is calm. there is nothing unusual. there has been nothing unusual during the day at all outsid outside." no protests all day. 9:40 p.m., benghazi time, 3:40

eastern. agents in building "c" of the compound and the tactical operation center hear gunfire and explosions at the front gate. agent sees on his camera that show the perimeter of the come pound dozens of armed men flowing in to the compound. the attack is underway. attack that would last some six hours. 5:00 p.m. eastern time. the first wire report cross of attack on the consulate in benghazi. that night, the romney come pain released a statement condemning the attack. and also criticizing the obama administration for the earlier cairo embassy release of the anti-islam film. they disavow the cairo embassy press release about the film. september 12 -- >> u.s. ambassador to libbia, our ambassador has been killed along with three other americans after a series of attack. >> americans' tolerance to

religion goes to beginning of the nation. but there is no justification for this. none. >> focus at the romney press availability, his overnight press release. >> do you think coming so soon, after the event had unfolded overnight was appropriate? >> the white house also issued a statement saying it tried to distance itself from the comments and said they were not reflecting of their view. i had the exact same reaction. >> rose garden minutes later -- >> we will not waiver to the commitment to see justice is done for the terrible act. >> by this point, according to sources, they know the attack was a terrorist act, listed it as such internally to unlock resources. believes it was al-qaeda or al-qaeda linked group in libya. in the next three hours, president obama sits down with "60 minutes." >> i was certain and continue to be pretty certain that there will be bumps on the road.

>> then leaves for campaign trip and fundraiser in vegas. 6:00 p.m., fox news has intelligent sources saying al-qaeda linked groups could be behind the attack. u.s. officials integging whether a proof -- investigating whether a pro-al-qaeda group were involved. >> raid that had direct and indirect fire and military movement involved in it. this was a well planned and well targeted event. no doubt. >> we weren't alone. >> this was executed by a group that is either associated with or such theses with al-qaeda. >> roughly 9:00 p.m. president obama mentions the libya attack. but spends most of his time campaigning. >> because nevada is a battleground state you are aware that we have an elex going on. >> from nevada, president goes on to campaign in colorado. september 13 on the state department question about security. >> we did evaluate, and threat

stream. we determined that the security at benghazi was appropriate for what we knew. >> another statement about the anti-islam video. >> there is no justification. up in at all. for responding -- none at all, for responding to the video with violence. >> september 14. >> the unrest around the region has been if response to this video. we do not at this moment have information to suggest or tell you that would indicate any of this unrest is preplanned. >> president and secretary of state greet the bodies of fallp at joint base andrews. >> we have seen rage and violence at embassies over an awful internet video we had nothing to do with. >> it is hard for the american people to make sense of that. because it is senseless. >> late they're day on capitol

hill -- >> it's obvious that there is likely there was a terrorist organization. that is affiliated with al-qaeda. now benghazi. that had at least some role in this attack. >> september 16. u.s. ambassador to the united nations, susan rice goes on five sunday talk shows. >> this is not preplanned, premeditated attack. what happened initially it was spontaneous ro action to what transpired in cairo as a consequence of the video. as that unfolded it seems to have been halftimeed. what we think transpired in benghazi is opportunist exextremist element came to the consulate as this was unfolding. extremists individuals joined in the effort with heavy

weapon. >> remember, state department officials on the conference call october 9 confirmed there were no protests outside the benghazi consulate before the attack. zero. and everything was calm, from the video surveillance and security officials there. september 17 fox first reported the no-protest development the day after rice's aperiences. six days after the attacks. >> intelligence source on the ground in libya tells fox there was no protest, and the attacks were not spon stainous. the intelligence said adding the libyan attack was planed and had nothing to do with the movie. >> september 17. >> on the basis of what ambassador rice publicly disclosed, does the united states government regard what happened in benghazi as an act of terror? >> again, i'm not going to put labels on this until we have a complete investigation.

>> on the david letterman show. is this an act of war? what happens here? >> here is what happens. a video released by somebody who lives here, shadowy character, who is video directed at muhammad. islam. so this caused great offense in much of the muslim world. what also happened was extremists and terrorists used this as an excuse. to attack a variety of embassies including the consulate in libya. >> september 19 on capitol hill, head of the national counterterrorism center, the only administration official to testify so far. >> i would say yes.

>> hay were killed in the terrorist attack at the embassy. >> the ambassador specifically mentioned the rise in extremism that the he was on al-qaeda hit lest. >> september 20. >> the head of the national terrorism center on capitol hill, open hearings saying it's terrorism an terrorist attack. this is the "new york times." not one story about libya or the terrorism angle. it just seems strange. >> it's self-evident what happened in benghazi was a terrorist attack. >> we have reports that the white house said today that the attack were terrorist attack. >> we're still doing an investigation. >> there will be different circumstances in different countrys. i don't want to speak to something until we have the information.

>> september 21. >> what happened in benghazi was a terrorist attack. >> september 24. >> then i heard hillary clinton say it was act of terrorism. is it? what do you say? >> we're still doing an investigation. no doubt the kind of weapons used, ongoing assault, that it wasn't just mob action. >> september 25 at the united nations -- >> there are no words that excuse the killing of innocen innocents. >> al-qaeda and other groups launched attack and kidnappings from t malti neighboring countrys. now with increased freedom to maneuver, they're tex ending their reach and network in multiple direction. >> september 27. >> it was a terrorist attack. >> the reason i think it's clearly it was a terrorist attack because a group of terrorists obviously conducted

that attack on the consulate. against the individuals. >> october 8. >> today, al-qaeda is on appeal and usama bin laden is no more. [ applause ] >> more sound was added after the hearing today on capitol hill. libya scandal grows worse. will it impact this election? how? fox all-stars discuss that. when we return.

>> bret: we thought we'd start with the panel after the long 11-minute piece you watched. steve hayes for stand stand. mara liasson, national political correspondent of national public radio and syndicated columnist, charles krauthammer. okay, steve, the libya situation, today's hearing and what you just watched in context. >> i think the timeline that you just played is absolutely jaw-dropping.

there are so many times that the administration makes claims that are inconsistent with one another and inconsistent with what virtua virtually everybody understood the ground truth behind the attack. we saw examples throughout the hearing today. one interrogation by congressman james langford of oklahoma. he was talking to a senior state department official, lamb, who is in charge of security there. he asked her in detail about where she was that evening, night of the attack, september 11. who she was talking to, what she was doing. she answered him in some detail. i was here in the united states new york contact with people on ground. as all of the attacks were unfolding. i talked to them all night. i talked to them in next day. getting details what about precisely had happened. langford skillfully then turned to her and said how is it that you were in contact with the people on the ground as this was happening in five days later, susan rice was out

selling the country totally different story. what makes this even more incredible. you see the president of the united states on david letterman, selling story that at least some people understood immediately was untrue. immediately. we all said intercepts that night of the discussions between al-qaeda and islamic magrab terrorist from that organization and local jihadist that told us this was a terrorist attack. that suggested that this was premeditated. for weeks the administration went out and sold a totally different story. >> bret: to hear jay carney today try to repackage this today but kind of interesting. >> so say this is what we thought at the time and information eed. the most kind of mystifying part of this is that susan rice was definitive and so out over the tip of her skis as they say, on the sunday talk shows. why not say then we're doing an investigation to find out what happened? instead of sayingdy fintively

it was spontaneous protest that got hijacked? that has caused more trouble than attack itself. >> bret: often the case in this town. >> often the case. >> bret: charles, to steve's point, shocking thing was the state department last night on the conference call. we weren't invited to it. they say it was an oversight. we pointed that out last night. they say everything is calm. ambassador walks the turkish diplomat out to the road. 4 is nobody there. they don't see people on video. security people say it's been that way all day. nobody around. nothing unusual all day long. steve points out the official says they talk all the way through the attack. they talk after the attack. six hours long this attack. they have this information and five days later susan rice goes on five tv shows and doesn't have the information. yet these people do.

>> there are two scandals going on. first is the coverup. we now know, they knew earlier there was no mob. there was no demonstration. there was no incentive about the video. it was all completely false story. simply an attack of infiltrated and killed our people. everything that susan rice said was a confection. invention. repeated again and again. hillary clinton speaking of the video as the body of ambassador lying next to them. you had the president of the united states addressing the general assembly. more than two weeks later talking about the video, insult to islam, et cetera. you have this entire story going all along. they are trying to sell the video. trying to sell extremism. they are trying to sell all of this at a time they know it

isn't true. that is number one. scandal. it has to do with the fact spiking the football over, death of bin laden and al-qaeda week earlier with charlotte. this is a contradiction. second scand is the lack of security at the site before. so what happened before? i think that what happened was the administration, wasn't lack of money they went through the support. they didn't put up the required barbed wire and fences and all of that. it was under the theory that starts with obama at the beginning. we don't want to be intruders in the area, don't want to be oppositionm. we don't want to look imperialist, we want to blend in with the people and help them build. that is noble aspiration. it's catastrophically wrong decision to do it in benghazi in a no man's land in dodge city and it cost us the lives of the ambassador and three other americans. >> bret: we want to play

some of the exchanges from that hearing. we took a lot of time obviously with the timeline. we will do it on the online show. stick around for that. mar ab, put up the polls from the new fox poll. first, the question president obama's handling of libya among the voters here, approve, disapprove? you see september to now. disapprove 46%. that has changed a bit. the obama administration giving false information on the attack. it's troubling. 67%. not much of a concern. 26%. the reason for the information on this, from the beginning to help obama's campaign 37%. you look at the polls, you look at this issue. where do you think the falls in the campaign? >> i think this is an opportunity for mitt romney. he gets a do-over. when he first waded in the controversy he focused on press release the embassy sent out. he didn't decide to make kind of comprehensive critique of

the president's bungling of the arab spring. that is a decision he made. >> bret: the white house disavowed that. >> true. but he still didn't take the opportunity that i think was before him then. now he gets a chance -- >> yes. that's what i'm saying. now this gives him a new opportunity and he can do it in florida. at the foreign policy debate. to say that this all, you all of the things we heard. bungled, not enough security. couldn't say straight what it was. we know that the president numbers on the foreign policy are dropping though this has been a strength for him throughout the cam pape. we have know it's not a top issue for voters. economic policy election. this comes at a crucial moment. romney has kind of forced the door open with the good debate performance in denver. now he has to get the shoulder in door and keep pushing through it. this is one of the opportunities. foreign policy is an important issue, from the baseline credibility as commander-in-chief. this is a big opportunity for him. >> bret: want to go over the other fox polls, more about

politics on the other side of this break. steve gets to start. keep it here. victor! victor! i got your campbell's chunky soup. mom? who's mom? i'm the giants mascot. the giants don't have a mascot! ohhh! eat up! new jammin jerk chicken soup has tasty pieces of chicken with rice and beans. hmmm. for giant hunger! thanks mom! see ya! whoaa...oops! mom? i'm ok. grandma? hi sweetie! she operates the head. [ male announcer ] campbell's chunky soup. it fills you up right.

governor romney had a good night. i had a bad night. >> how bad? >> well, it's not the first time i have had a bad night. but i think what is important is that the fundamentals of what this race is about hasn't changed. governor romney went to trouble hide what his positions are. >> bret: president obama on abc tonight. talking about the debate. the poll changed, likely voters and romney-ryan ticket with one-point lead within the margin of error.

among independent voters changed significantly. 44 to 3 #%, there you see. that is a big shift. steve, as promised, your thoughts on how the race has shifted as we get ready to head to danville, kentucky, tomorrow for the vice presidential debate? >> i think, evidence in the president's meants right there. i think they don't know how to answer this debate surge that romney has had. it's been a surge. it looks like sustained surge. you seen the white house scram to believe come up with an answer. first they said he was too conservative, then a flip-floper and then it was about big bird and he wasn't serious, this was an attempt to go after the deficit, he wasn't serious; whereas, they spent most of the campaign arguing that ryan and romney were radical, they wanted to overturn medicare, redo medicare. they just can't find their footing on solid argument so they are going back to the arguement that romney is a

liar. the media amplified it. but it's not convincing argument when you have 70 million people watching what romney said. >> bret: they tried to jump on the statement that he made and romney saying there is no legislation with regard to abortion that i'm familiar with that would become part of my agenda. suggesting that he is trying to moderate on abortion. the romney spokeswoman saying that romney is proudly pro-life and pro-life president. romney saying it won't happen. >> there is nothing there. what romney is saying is i have an agenda on abortion. i will make legislation. there is no contradiction. if you look at the polls and 16-point flip among independents, toward romney, you've got to say as opposed

to mara said not a foot in the dor. full leg, two arms, half a torso and a head. that is my medical opinion anyway. he made incredible advances here. it's up to obama to reverse them. i don't know if he can. >> bret: okay. we will continue our conversation online show. that is it for the panel. stay tuned for preview of big day tomorrow. begin. tomato, obviously. haha. there's more than that though, there's a kick to it. wahlalalalallala! smooth, but crisp. it's kind of like drinking a food that's a drink, or a drink that's a food, woooooh! [ male announcer ] taste it and describe the indescribable. [ male announcer ] you've reached the age

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and that their homeowners insurance protects them. [ thunder crashes ] it doesn't. stop pretending. only flood insurance covers floods. ♪ visit floodsmart.gov/pretend to learn your risk. >> finally tonight, we asked you how much the libya scandal will affect your vote. 83% said a great deal. 6% said somewhat. 11% said not at all. we had more than 10,000 votes tonight. thanks for voting. make sure you tune in tomorrow night for "special report." i'll speak with romney senior advisor and obama campaign manager, live from danville, kentucky, site of the vice presidential debate and then our live debate coverage begins 8:55 eastern time. megyn kelly and i will have an all star panel with expert